I am trying desperately to do a little catch up as I have had 2 surgeries and an office procedure since July 30th! I have just now began feeling well enough to get out and take photographs. This one was taken at the Chattanooga, TN Aquarium and I thought fit very nicely for the public transportation theme.

There is a section on Longboat Key that has peacocks/peahens roaming the streets of a residential section. These beautiful birds are protected, much to the property owners’ chagrin. I am posting two photos I took today, both of which are of the male.

“Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil, See No Evil,” was the way a long time employee of The Colony Beach and Tennis Resort on Longboat Key lived her life. Unfortunately, her life was cut short a few weeks ago but her memory will live on. As a memorial to her, and to show their love for her, the owners of the Resort placed this sculpture at the entrance to the restaurant.

Lunch at our favorite outdoor restaurant along the Bay provided not only great food but wonderful scenery today. This is a brown pelican and under perfect conditions in the wild they can live to be 30 plus years old. The wingspan ranges from 6 to 7 feet, tip to tip and they can fly in calm winds up to 35 MPH. Males are larger than females and have a longer bill.

In Florida, they build their nests in mangroves from twigs and grasses brought in by the male for the female to construct. Adults have a white head and reddish brown neck during the summer and yellow head and white neck during the winter. This colorful plumage helps in attracting a mate during mating season. A yellow head is mating plumage. Wild pelicans are polymgamous but captive pelicans are 50% monogamous. The female lays 2 to 4 eggs in the winter or early spring and after about 30 days incubation by both the male and female, chicks hatch.